TORONTO - As the Year of the Horse begins in the Chinese calendar, the cavalry arrived to rescue the first line of the Maple Leafs.

After signs in recent games the team would finally address its over-reliance on Phil Kessel, James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak, Toronto had a glut of goals from three different forwards and a defenceman in routing the Florida Panthers 6-3 on Tuesday.

Early third-period conversions came from Joffrey Lupul and Nikolai Kulemin, while Nazem Kadri bagged three assists, including his 100th National Hockey League point. Coach Randy Carlyle set the tone by starting the night with his third line of Troy Bodie, Peter Holland and Mason Raymond, with the latter scoring 27 seconds into the middle period to tie the match.

But there was still ample assistance from van Riemsdyk with a goal and assist, with Kessel getting a helper and drawing a penalty that led to Lupul’s power play goal. With 1:23 to goal, Kessel also fed Bozak for insurance.